Chinese director Zhai Yixiang’s Mosaic Portrait and Ode To Nothing, from the Philippines’ Dwein Baltazar, are among the films selected to screen in competition at this year’s Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (June 28-July 6) in the Czech Republic.
Zhai’s second feature tells the story of a journalist investigating the controversy surrounding a teenager’s pregnancy. Produced by China’s Blackfin Productions (Kaili Blues), the film stars Wang Yanhui and Wang Chuanjun, who both appeared in Dying To Survive, and newcomer Zhang Tongxi.
Ode To Nothing is a “tender and bitterly comic” drama about an ageing woman who strikes up a highly unusal relationship with a body, apparently belonging to no-one, that finds its way into her funeral shop. Baltazar previously directed Gusto Kita With All My Hypothalamus, which won three awards including best picture at this year’s FAMAS Awards in the Philippines.
In total, Karlovy Vary’s competition line-up includes 12 titles, with ten receiving their world premieres and two making their international premieres. The programme also include Cambodian-born British filmmaker Hong Khaou’s Monsoon Monsoon, his follow-up to his critically-acclaimed Sundance debut Lilting. Starring Henry Golding (Crazy Rich Asians), the film follows a young man travelling to Vietnam to rediscover his roots.
Official Selection – Competition
The August Virgin – Jonás Trueba (Spain)
The Father Bashtata – Kristina Grozeva, Petar Valchanov (Bulgaria/Greece)
Half-Sister Polsestra – Damjan Kozole (Slovenia/Macedonia/Serbia/Croatia)
La Belle Indifference – Kıvanç Sezer (Turkey)
Lara Lara – Jan Ole Gerster (Germany)
Let There Be Light – Marko Škop (Slovak Republic/Czech Republic)
The Man From Fhe Future – Felipe Ríos (Chile/Argentina)
Monsoon Monsoon – Hong Khaou (UK)
Mosaic Portrait – Yixiang Zhai (China)
Ode to Nothing – Dwein Baltazar (Philippines)
Patrick De Patrick – Tim Mielants (Belgium)
To The Stars To The Stars – Martha Stephens (US)